It is unbelievable that in a " Religion " like Buddhism, so many violence or war did took place. But humans are humans, if they act in the guise of ignorance, and here a Buddhist does not differ from a Christian, Muslim , Jew, and vice versa etc. Yes, most humans of all religions are flawed and ful...

But I do wonder if spreading Buddhism widely in the American South would disrupt their hunting culture there and in turn, disrupt some of their warrior culture. A lot of men from the south who end up in the military (especially famous snipers) seem to have started off with the local hunting culture....

Another interesting point from Mr. Singh's video is that he says that since the VM is a holy book, its author didn't scratch out mistakes, but simply wrote the correct word after the incorrect one. He says this in the video around 47:15. Middle-eastern knowledge, too, most likely - especially rememb...

Hi Dazdaryl, I think that feeling a connection with a bodhisattva like Ksitigarbha is always a positive thing. :) However, I don't know very much about him and I don't think that most western Buddhists know much about him because his practices don't seem very widespread in the west. Ksitigarbha as a...

Also, at around 32:50 in the long video in my OP, Sukhwant Singh says that the Voynich Manuscript was written sometime before 1430 AD because very few Gurmukhi words are used in the manuscript (according to him, Gurmukhi only became popular in the Punjab region around 1430, which, I guess isn't too ...

An Indian man named Sukhwant Singh claims to have solved the mystery of the Voynich Manuscript. He explains his theories in the video below. I found his arguments quite convincing, but I am not an expert on the history and cultures involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmvmSCd2Jg0 Sukhwant Singh...

LaVey worked extensively in a circus/carnival. That should explain a lot. Yes, LaVeyan Satanists often like to say "All religions are show business, but Satanism is the only religion that admits it!" lol Any religious ritual has some performance considerations and is partially a bit of theater. I r...

As for outsiders who don't share the same values... they are no different in having to walk their own path to awakening. They might take advantage of a society that is pacified by dharma - its happened in India and Tibet. This is not a reason to not practice dharma. Yes, it is not a reason for an i...

I've just read the article in the OP :emb: I wonder if Mesner's 'empathetic compassion' is really in line with his church's teachings? He might be a heretic! :) But it's a lovely gesture and my guess is that people like him join Satanism out of the disenchantment with the hypocrisy of mainstream Ch...

Them Satanists are quite a bunch of jokers, or they may be a so-called "It's a cry for help." :cheers: Perhaps. But it should also be remembered that not everybody who attends the meetings of Buddhist groups is there for deep and profound reasons either: Some people go to Buddhist groups just to so...

Pastafarianism does it better. See http://www.venganza.org/about/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster . Why? Because it's explicitly a push-back "against the sometimes overbearing activities of Christian groups in the US" and because it's fun . Pastafarianism is indeed brilli...

DO YOU WORSHIP SATAN? It is the position of The Satanic Temple that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based sup...

For atheists who want to be religious, there are only very few roads open to them: Buddhism, Jainism (which is very hard to do outside of India), and Satanism. You might want to run that past a bullshit-detector, Luke. Satanism is not atheist. Read and learn: Satanist groups that appeared after the...

We spread dharma to spread awakening. Awakened people tend to be evolved beyond viewing the infliction of violence as an answer. Society in general becomes pacified and violence becomes less and less an acceptable norm. The effect is as a society we turn our energies to peaceful pursuits and the mi...

Furthermore, a lot of them have backgrounds and personalities very similar to ours and some of them have a bit of interest in Buddhism; therefore, there exists the possibility for some degree of interaction between our two communities. Not really. There's a big difference between fooling round with...

edit: that was sarcasm, very few people will ever willing be totally non-violent, especially when confronted with a life-death situation. If your in the military, and your life is in harms way, you sure as shit better be able to shoot to kill. Yes, we Buddhists are allowed to kick some butt when ne...

Thanks for your responses. Reading them has helped me clarify my thinking. The Mongols are indeed an example of a strong Buddhist empire. Although what I am curious about is "how Buddhist" was the average Mongol soldier at this time? What Buddhist knowledge did he have and how did he practice Buddhi...

anyway, it has far more of a political purpose than a spiritual one. This part I agree with in regard to the mainstream modern Satanists organizations in the US. The Satanic Temple has been especially effective at using the media to pursue its political agenda (mainly in the areas of protecting fre...